Killzone Effect
by The Night Hunter
Summary: After thousands years of strife and conflicts Humanity finally entered an Era of Peace. But what will happen when they meet an alien race that embraced every sick and twisted ideas that humans ever invented with open arms? The answer is simple, Galaxy will be turned into a KillZone! FIRST CONTACT WAR!
1. Chapter 1

Hi, I'm Night Hunter and this is an idea that I had in mind ever since I discovered the ME and KZ. and I was really suprised to find al,ost none of such stories here so I've deiced to give it.

So here you go and ME/KZ crossover. First Contact War story!

* * *

_Timeline…_

**Year 2390 **– The cold war between New Helghan and the Vekta has finally come to an end. With the deaths of Thomas Sinclair and Jordan Stahl on Helghan and the disclosure of the incriminating evidence against both sides, the governments of the two conflicting parties decided that it was time to reconcile before another war escalates.

**Year 2391 **– With the intervention from the UCN, an agreement was reached. In exchange of Helghast military prototypes, UCN, ISA, and ICSA launched the biggest relief action in human history. Massive resources were moved to begin terraforming Helghan to be habitable again. Also Chancellor Hera Visari stepped down from her office, leaving the position of Chancellor to her daughter Maya 'Echo' Visari.

The position of Director of Shadow Marshals was awarded to Lucas Kellan in gratitude for his efforts to prevent another war and genocide of either side.

**Year 2395 **– Chancellor Maya Visari conducted a massive reformation of New Helghan. The most significant one was changing the ratio of the budget from 85% to the military to 50%.The resources were moved to the private sector especially for housing and health care. The conditions of living for the ordinary Helghast improved dramatically, the death rate among children was the lowest ever since the fall of Helghan. Also the new judiciary system was introduce with independent judges filing many claims against the most oppressing Helghast soldiers in Helghast army which resulted in many dishonorable discharges and arrests. The reforms caused some unrest among the higher military officials but any coup d'état attempts were swiftly cursed by Anton Saric, who became one of the most vocal supports of new Chancellor much to everyone's surprise.

**Year 2396 **– Lucas Kellan was elected as a Director of the ISA due to his immense popularity among the people. He won in first round by an unseen sixty seven percent advantage to the second candidate. Immediately after his election he focused on taking the wall between Vektans and Helghast people down with enthusiastic help from Chancellor Visari. Both leaders seemed to work so well that the press started so speculate possible romantic relations between them as they used to spend an awful lot time together in their offices, whenever each one of them visited the other – which was very often.

**Year 2398 –** The wall was finally taken down and the unification of the Vektans and Helghast truly began. With the passionate speeches from Director Kellan and Chancellor Visari the foundation for true unification had begun. During the following months several racist incidents would occur by radicals on both sides, but as the time passed, they seemed to be less frequent.

**Year 2399 –** Chancellor Visari is pregnant, the name of the father is still unknown, but most suspicions sails towards Director Kellan.

**Year 2400 –** An enormous earthquake shook the surface of Mars causing thousands of casualties. During the rescue attempts an ancient alien ruin was found, causing uproar though the whole human race. With the discovery of the ruin brought to light many facts. Finally the theories of the humans not being alone in space were proven, but also proved that those aliens were advanced enough to watch the humanity when it still hadn't left their caves. Upon further research, the name of the aliens was discovered.

The Protheans.

With the discovery of their name came things that shook the humans to the very core. And that wasn't the Mass Effect technology.

Those aliens built an Empire that flourished by conquering other races. All those who wouldn't submit were brutalized and enslaved. The discovery caused a mass panic and a literal flood of near alien invasion theories, despite the ruins being fifty thousand years old.

In the third quarter of the year, Chancellor Maya Visari gave birth to twins. Director Lucas Kellan admitted being a father of the children and proposed to Chancellor causing an interstellar scandal.

They had a small wedding a month later. Due to the Helghan society pressure, Director Lucas Kellan took the name Visari as his second part, while Chancellor remained with just Visari.

The numerous voices trying to remove the Director of his position were swiftly silenced by the President of the UCN Jack Kowalski son who was of one of the soldier's that died during the second interstellar war.

**Year-2401 **– President of the UCN organized a summit calling all powers in human space to discuss the situation. President Jack Kowalski, Chancellor Maya Visari, Director Lucas Kellan-Visari, and the leader of ICSA Sarah Freeman, discussed the possible threat of the aliens coming back to reclaim their territory. And despite it being slim, they couldn't rule out that possibility.

Thus Human Systems Alliance was born. And history will remember it as most massive logistical military nightmare ever. The unification of four main military powers and dozens of minor ranks, resources, and personnel would take years to shape into an efficiently functional organization.

Aside from forming the largest alliance in human history… series of trade pacts were signed to ensure a stable economy, and as well to prevent any internal conflicts. Also humans decided to not abandon their tech in favor of more advanced alien technology and diverted resources to research both of them simultaneously. Not to mention that numerous treaties to exchange technology were signed between all superpowers, resulting in the largest scientific boom in decades.

Earth was proclaimed as ever neutral and was off limits to any military action from any side. What's more, all subjects of the pacts were allowed to open an emissary on the planet and were awarded a large donation every year to promote their culture. As a token of good faith, the UCN removed any military potential from the planet leaving only a symbolic world of garrison. The center of UCN was moved to Mars.

With that, Earth became a sacred symbol of peace and unity to every living human.

Later the aforementioned series of pacts would be known as the Treaties of Earth.

**Year-2402 –** First Ships lead by Jon Grissom were sent beyond Charon relay discovering Arcturus and euphoria spread all across Systems Alliances. The construction of the Arcturus station began the future nest of forming Human System Alliances. Director Lucas Kellan-Visari was re-elected for a second cadency.

**Year-2405 –** The unification of the human military finally ended. The newly created Alliance consisted of five fleets lead by the powerful Battle-Carriers, the offspring of Stahl's cruisers, courtesy of New Helghan. The Kilometer and a half monsters were the most powerful ships in the human Navy, thwarting even the UNC dreadnought. Aside from the Alliance fleets, each subject of the HSA was allowed to have their own fleet and so four additional fleets were added to human war potential.

**Year - 2410-**Shanxi was discovered by joint the UCN /ISA/New Helghan expedition. Director Lucas Kellan-Visari finished his last cadency and stepped from his post moving to Chancellor Visari side as her advisor and bodyguard. His close associate, Ryan Smith, was elected as new director.

**Year – 2415-**Helghan became habitable again. Chancellor Maya Visari held the memorandum for the victims of the Terracide and officially moved the capitol to New Pyrrhus city. The construction of Arcturus station had been completed. All humans celebrate the inauguration of the new nest of the all human government.

**Year – 2420-**Shanxi's went dark.

* * *

_Helghan Training Camp…_

Colonel Hannah Shepard was looking at the group of soldiers. She was definitely a proud Helghast woman. While she wasn't tall, she was very athletic and agile. She had a pale skin like all Helghast and shoulder length black hair that she kept in neat ponytail. Her eyes had a dark shade of brown, almost making it look like she had black irises. She had a round face and had all the curves in right places, but if anyone thought she was a mere female soldier, then they would be gravely mistaken. She was known to be one of the best soldiers HSA currently had. While she originated from Helghan society where women usually don't sever in army, much rather focusing rather on domestic duties, she managed to break through the stereotype. The fact that Chancellor Visari's reforms greatly helped Helghast women to earn their rightful place in a Helghan society, which meant the army and the respect of her fellow officers, helped greatly as well.

Her soldiers filled her with pride. They were ones of the first truly diverse squad. Even after fifteen years, most of the HSA resembled a rather loose coalition of armies than had a truly unified organization. The divisions and fleets usually consisted of particular factions soldiers and ships with the rare exceptions who desired to experience fighting alongside other factions. And while the circulation wasn't forbidden, old grudges still ran deep.

For example Helghast soldiers hated to work with Vektans and UCN's with ICSA's… but not her squad.

The recruits came from across all human space, from Helghan to Earth. She drilled them to work together, as one unit, and leave all prejudices behind. Of course there were a few incidents between the soldiers, but one night together spent outside with HELGHAN SIPDERS made them bond rather quickly.

Apparently those foul creatures survived the Terracide and adapted so they could live off raw Petrusite… and grew to be the size of a large dog.

But not all things were going smoothly. Hannah had two problems.

One was a perfect justification for Helghast's hate towards Vektans and the other, aside from being a blow to her and all her people's pride, why Helghast shouldn't procreate with Vektans.

First was named Rick Verdon and the second one was Hector Visari.

The nature of the problems wasn't of their skills. In fact no matter how much she wanted to deny it, those two were easily the best out of all her trainees. Together they were literally unstoppable.

Rick excelled in medium to long range attacks; he was one of the best shooters she had seen in all her life. She witnesses him hitting a match box from a thousand meters without optics.

Hector on the other hand was a… she hadn't dared to use word specialist, but in a few years he undoubtedly be one of the best in close combat. He had a fascination with Capture Troops and she allowed him to hone his skills in that area. With the evolution of the personal shielding tech, the class came back to life under the new name of Hunter Troops. And as much Hannah hated to admit it, if he ever got close to her, she would be dead, if he wished for it.

But the roots of her problems laid in their personalities. If one would look in their files they would see that they were filled with dozens of complaints of… sexual harassment. They were the bane of every female in five kilometer radius including Hannah. She couldn't even count how many times she was groped by them, her teeth grinded against each other and face hardened.

In the line of troops, Rick nudged his best pal Hector.

"Hey Scolar! Look, Hannah is thinking about me again," he whispered dreamily. Rick was a tall athletic man with blonde hair and blue eyes.

"I bet it's me, Metrac," Hector replied. Like every Visari he had striking green eyes, pale skin, and dark hair. But the rest belonged to his father. The high cheeks bones and muscular build were the gifts that he received from him, not to mention his larger healthy appreciation for the fairer sex.

Initially both males started off very badly. They were trying to peak on their female comrades through the air vents leading to the dressing room, but their weight was too much for the crappy quality steel they had, and promptly fell down, causing an panic among half-dressed females. Blaming each other for the failure, they began beating the crap out of each other until Colonel Shepard came and beat the crap out of both of them, and then forced them to spend a whole week outside the safe barracks.

During that time both males had to fight against Helghan spiders and the planet itself. The fact Helghan was habitable hadn't meant that it was a good place to live. The true turning point in their relation was when Rick started to fall to the sickness caused by the amount of Petrusite in the air. Hector then broke into the magazine and stole a breathing mask and medical supplies for him.

Later on he was caught after an investigation was conducted and Hannah had a half mind to kick him out, Visari bloodline be damned, not that he ever used that fact to his own gain. But then Rick barged to her office and literally begged her to not do it and kick him out instead. Seeing a perfect chance to increase the unity of the unit, she allowed them to stay.

Till this day she cursed herself for her stupidity. Because of that she had two compulsive perverts in her squad and the only saving grace was that they were the stars and poster boys for the unity for all humans groups.

"Listen up!" Hannah bellowed. "Today is the final day of your training here on Helghan! You came here as a wimps and pussies, but during those Five years you grew into a fine soldiers for the HSA!"

All present stood straighter at that compliment. A mischievous smirk played on her lips. "Well expect our favorite duo, they're still the same."

A round of laugh erupted from the crowd, even from the two victims.

"We love you to Ma'am," both men shouted in unison. "We'll miss your ass too," they said in sync, far too perfect to be accidental, making her sent them a heavy look.

"Want to get one last punishment from me for old time's sake?" she growled shutting them up. "No? Good. Now you will go to review you uniforms and I'll escort you to your new post and them drop you on some unfortunate officer's head. God have mercy and don't let it be a woman," she prayed silently making the whole squad laugh.

"Where we'll be assigned Ma'am?" a random recruit asked.

"You will be developed to the border world of Shanxi as per request of General Williams." Loud groans escaped their mouths. "I know it's not the most exciting post, but did you think that you would be sent to fight Pirates and Rebels so soon? It's a standard procedure to send green soldiers to calmer places so they could get some real-life experience before actual combat. Remember your first and foremost duty is to protect the citizens of HSA with your life! To fight an enemy is a secondary objective," she said harshly. While she allowed a certain familiarity within her squad, there were times when she was absolutely serious, and she demanded the same in return. "Is that clear?!"

"Ma'am! YES! Ma'am!" They all shouted.

"Perfect! Now go to the Quarter master office and you will receive your uniforms, dismissed!" She ordered.

All of the squad snapped her a salute and walked towards the Magazine.

They took place in front of newly rebuilt Radec Military Academy. Of course the things they were teaching there were dramatically different than in the previous incarnation of the building. Also the building looked much friendlier then last time as it was painted in white color instead of grey and even had a small park in central plaza.

But the academy wasn't the only thing that changed on Helghan during the reconstruction. Previously the cities were made in a way to contain as many people possible with as little space possible since the resources were mostly diverted to the army, thus creating a literal sea of slums in almost every city. Pyrrhus being prime example, but now under the rule of the Maya Visari, common Helghast could finally experience what true living conditions were. Not to mention she issued the usage of more ecological technologies so the pollution was much lower than in the times of her grandfather.

The group of the soldiers' hopefuls moved to the magazine to get their issued gear. The quartermaster was a middle aged man with dark skin and hair, obviously not from Helghan, but in during these times it wasn't an uncommon sight.

And then came the time for the Hannah's unit gear. This was a cause of numerous frictions between the fractions that made HSA, but mostly Helghast versus the rest, since they weren't budging an inch to even think of changing the design of their uniforms since it was a deeply rooted tradition.

After many months of squabbles, the rest of HSA finally submitted to their demands and allowed them to maintain their uniform code.

So at current date there were two types of official military uniform in HSA army and fleet. One was the modified version of old combat gear of ISA and UCN, with Helghast body armor tech. Like Helghast, the uniforms were a full body suit with independent breathing systems. They were colored in mixture of blue and silver, but due to the introduction of the new camouflage system, they could adapt to the environment, but by no means grant invisibly. The core design was rather utilitarian leaving standard plating and a faceless mask with two blue glowing visors, making the soldiers resemble medial knights. The main reason for that design was to lose the aggressiveness of Helghast design, since even in helmets the Helghast managed to look pissed off.

The other Helghan version hadn't changed much since the times of cold war with the obvious exception of the refreshing the overall design, which meant that their uniforms lost their bulkiness without sacrificing the protection, due to access of better materials allowing them to build lighter and more durable suits.

All suits were equipped with personal shields, the Hunter Trooper armor was additionally equipped with an arm shield, that when activated, created a screen similar to one created by OWL.

But the personal weaponry underwent the biggest change. The introduction of Mass Effect revolutionized the weapon production. With the laws of physics previously unknown by human the ME-01 assault rifle was created. Basically the inventors took the designs of a M82 Assault Rifle and StA409 Keyzer and merged it together and added the Mass Effect core, creating a hybrid of Human and Mass effect tech. The bullet shot from this rifle were faster than from any other, yet were slower than ones shot from purely ME weapons. The inventors still wanted to keep the piercing trait of human bullets instead of kinetic effect granted by ME tech.

The soldiers' hopefuls eagerly got their gear and moved to the ship, wishing that they would get some more exciting assignment than calm agricultural world.

They say you have to be careful for what you wish for.

* * *

_Helghan Chancellor's palace…_

Abode of the most powerful of Helghast wasn't by any means humble. The large palace was twice the size of the ancient Chinese forbidden city. The main palace building was designed in the previous regime imperial style, but this time it was even more fortified. The buildings were designed to withstand the orbital bombardment and were protected by a ridiculously powerful shield, powered by two Petrusite Power Plants. Inside the palace complex were barracks for the royal guard, the staff quarters, a pool, gym, the entertainment center, and rather large gardens. Also the amount of the powerful Arc towers was tripled, making the palace look like the ancient European castle with many soaring towers.

Currently, Chancellor Visari and her advisor Lucas were in her luxurious office, that which had a great view on New Pyrrhus. Each of them had their own desk; Maya's noticeably larger than Lucas.

"Lucas, I swear to God that if you won't stop pestering me, I will defenestrate you!" Maya snapped, moving the strand of her hair behind her ear – being retired from active combat for some time now allowed her hair to grow past her shoulders. She was now fifty four, but many young women envied her, her looks. Still fit and agile; time hadn't taken away anything from her beauty.

Time was also merciful for Lucas. He was not sixty, but still held the aura of Shadow Marshal as he actively participated in training of new ones. Aside from the slight graying on his temples, he hadn't shown much signs of aging like his wife.

"Oh come on honey, it's our son's graduation! We should go and embarrass him in front of his whole unit!" He replied with a grin.

"The graduation from military training camp is an important moment in every Helghast life. I won't let you ruin it for our son and that's final," she huffed.

"You were much more cooperative when I was a director of ISA," he mumbled, folding his arms.

"True. But now you serve under me," she said with a smirk.

"Yeah, yeah, you can be on top today too," he said absentmindedly. "Tell me again, why the hell are you sending him to Shanxi of all places? There's nothing to do there."

"Would you prefer if I sent him to the Pandora system?" she asked rhetorically. The Pandora system was infamous for its rampart piracy and the fact that most of population could be considered psychos.

"It's not what I meant, but he won't learn anything useful there. Alfa Centauri would be a good choice, it's moderately safe, but still needs a solid garrison." Lucas countered.

"I know but…" Maya hesitated. "I want him be safe for a little while longer." She stood and moved to the large panoramic window.

"You know that the day will come that you won't be able to protect him anymore?" Lucas joined her and looked at the city. "His skill will be the thing that will save him, like in our cases."

"Rather mine… I had to save you on a daily basis." Maya deadpanned.

"That's not true… I just had few slipups," he face faulted. "Besides, you're not that worried for Kat?"

"Katharine luckily inherited more my genes and I believe that she can handle herself, besides, she will be graduation from Shadow Marshal's academy in top 5. So I'm pretty sure that she'll be ok," she told him.

"I graduated at top 5 too, and Hector is the best in his whole unit. I fail to see your point," Lucas said with pride.

"Remember the inherited more of my genes part? That's why I'm worried. He's bound to get himself in trouble and he is a pervert just like you. Have you seen his files? He basically sexually harassed every female he came across!"

One tear of pride slid down on Lucas's cheek.

"That's my boy," he choked with his voice laced in emotions. "I'm so pro-GYAH!" Lucas clutched his side when Maya elbowed him.

"That's not a joking matter! Ugh, he's just like you, no matter the situation, you hit on everything that moves and has boobs." Maya growled.

"Yeah like the time I was about to fly off on that ATAC and managed to steal your first kiss. Your expression was hilarious," he chuckled.

"Yours was better when I started making barrels with it," she smiled smugly.

"I admit it was a bumpy ride, but it was still worth it," he wrapped his arms around her. "And by the time we fought with Tyran you seemed very interested in me then… something about us both being outcasts?"

"I admit that you held a certain allure then," she said mischievously.

"Held? So now I lost it?" Lucas grinned and leaned to capture her lips.

"Then why don't you remind me of it?" Maya purred.

* * *

_Aboard the HSAS – Grey Dawn…_

The Grey dawn was a seasoned ISA cruiser that the organization donated to the HSA project. Aboard it all five thousands trainees from Helghast were transported towards their destination at Shanxi.

Currently the recruits were spread through all ship, but the biggest concentration was in the ship's canteen.

"Ok, full house," Rick said.

"Oh screw you," one of them dropped his cards.

"Thought you were lucky Rodriguez?" he grinned and took his cards and a sizeable amount of money. "Don't worry I'm sure you win this back… one day"

"Now watch this! Four of a kind!" Hector said grinning. "Tough luck Rick," he mocked him. And was about to take the cash when Hannah who sat at the far end of the table cleared her throat.

"Don't be so fast 3rd class Private," she showed her cards revealing a royal flush. "Pure luck," she smirked. Hannah deiced as it was probably the last time she would see them in a few years so she cut the formalities and socialized a bit.

"I can't believe that," he mumbled dropping his cards. "It was a good thing that you never wanted to play during at the training camp."

"That would cause too much problems with discipline if I got too familiar with you lot. You two already caused me countless headaches. I hadn't needed to follow your bad example." She sighed and took the money. "Listen; as we soon arrive at Shanxi, I have a few words for you all and the pervert duo as well. So listen up!" All fifty recruits from Hannah's squad gathered around her. "You will soon get into real life situations and from your decisions, will have an outcome on the lives of your comrades. And while Shanxi is a calm agricultural world, after two or three years you will be re-located to more dangerous areas, so take the most you will learn here and learn from more experienced soldiers as Shanxi literally became the retiring post for old soldiers. So you will be serving with Bloody Hawks, 5th Rangers Regiment, and Black Raiders."

Her declaration caused a round of whispers among the crowd. The three armies she mentioned were legendary among the HSA. Bloody Hawks were ICAS's army famous from their pirate suppression campaign and the siege of their fortress on the Tartaru's moon.

5th Ranger Regiment was consisted of the westerns from the second Extra Solar War that took part in the defense of Vekta. That would be something amazing that people that took part in war that happened over 60 years ago, but with human life-snap reaching one hundred fifty on average, it wasn't anything unusual. Lastly Black Raiders were Helghast army that held the defense of Pyrrhus when the join forces of UCN and ISA attacked Helghast, dealing horrible losses to the invaders.

"Whoa! Whoa! Why the hell are guys like that are on Shanxi?" Hector exclaimed. Among the Black Raiders were the last of the Original Capture troopers, thus, he was excited like a little girl to meet them.

"Like I said after that mission, those guys are going to be disbanded and retired since they are mostly old gramps now, but they are still able to handle themselves. That is why you're going there to mostly learn from the best and let them pass some of that knowledge on. So make the most of your time there and listen to what they have to say… except when they tell you to kill each other… they are an old squad and hold many grudges," she hesitated. "So don't let some of them poison your minds with hate. We're now working together and we're not enemies anymore, so keep that in mind."

She eyed her men, "Good… Now private Rick and Hector, follow me to some where more secluded. I have a few words for the two of you," she said with seriousness.

Both males looked at each other and gulped, that look usually spelt trouble. They followed her stiffly as she led them to an empty corridor.

"So you took us to secluded area, wonder what –?" Hector started.

"Hector shut up," she snapped, quietly making him shut his mouth. "Listen despite all things, I… don't dislike you two," she started. "But you need to promise me that you will take into the consideration what I'm about to tell you."

Both of them nodded with unusually serious expressions.

"Ok for first off, you perv-antics needs to be seriously limited, not every female officer is as patient and easy going as me. And believe me; you will suffer consequences if any of them decided to make complaint to your superior officer. You can even go to jail for it, or if you're lucky be dishonorably discharged. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

They nodded again.

"Ok, now even more pressing matters. When I told you about those vets you will serve… I skipped a few things… Listen, whoever put the 5th and Raiders together had to be fucking insane." she surprised them. They never heard her swear, ever. "They hate each other and there had been more than a few…incidents. Some of them lethal."

"What does that have to do with us?" Rick asked.

"I was getting to that," she replied. "With your predisposition as a sniper and Hector's as a Hunter trooper, there is a high chance that you will end up with those two groups respectively… and your friendship will be a problem there. They are old soldiers and they are stuck in the old way of thinking. That's why they were pushed here on the edge of our territory with the excuse to protect the place since there's relatively little active relay here. The truth was that they had a negative influence on the unification progress within HSA, so they needed to be… push aside. The Bloody Hawks are here mainly to prevent open fight between them and pacify them if necessary, but luckily General Williams are keeping them on a short leash."

She looked into their eyes, "Look I know you two bonded… but… please try to keep your friendship secret, because you will be an object of hate… you, Hector, a little less since you're Visari, but you Rick don't have that kind of protection. So don't brag about how good friends you are with him because the guys in 5th will make your life miserable. And I don't want to see the report that either of you died in unknown circumstances or in an accident."

Rick and Hector looked at her in silence procession what she just said. They exchanged a glance and reached an understanding.

"That you for that Colonel Shepard," Rick said, and both of them gave her a perfect salute.

"We'll miss you," Hector smiled and extended his hand.

Hannah smirked and shook it firmly. When she grabbed Rick's hands she was pulled into an affectionate hug with the man resting his head on her shoulder. Before she managed to snap at him his hand travelled to her butt and grabbed it, squeezing it firmly.

"Just for old times' sake," Rick chuckled, but was interrupted with solid knee to the liver. "My liver!" He cried, grunting, and falling to the ground.

"On you other hand, you can die asshole!" Hannah snapped and walked angrily from them.

"Hannah," the other standing still started. "Take care of yourself."

"Likewise," she replied without turning back.

* * *

_Shanxi – Capital city, New Hong Kong…_

General Henry Williams stood at the top of the small mountain that gave him a perfect view of the bustling city below. New Hong Kong was built next to the river that parted into two branches, creating a delta that acted as the city center. The delta itself was unique since it was a small mountain that had the higher edge facing the land, and was slowly decreasing until it reached the coast of the sea. So the city center was climbing up as the mountain rose. The large government skyscraper was built at the highest point, towering over the city with its two hundreds floors. But luckily the builders of the city wanted to preserve as much as possible from local sub-tropic fauna and bothered to make large gardens with exotic plants.

And from one of those gardens, Williams was enjoying the view of his city. The city's population reached to the ten million which was one-fourth of the whole planet's population. The city was built with many scrapers made of glass that also served as solar panels powering the city itself. Yet the main power source was the large dam one hundred kilometers down the river.

Form the height Williams stood; he could see the farms with their golden wheat on the edge of the horizon. As always a smile crept on his scarred face as he saw that.

This was the best last job he could have asked for. He had fought enough in his life and needed a rest and Shanxi was perfect for it. Except from the problems with 5th and Raiders… things were mostly calm here.

He counted himself as a lucky man. He had saved enough money to last him till the end of his life, not to mention the high general pension. He persuaded his son to move here with his family and his adorable granddaughter Ashley who just had her second birthday.

He looked up to the sky and saw the ISA cruiser descend upon the star port with the newest batch of recruits bolstering his forces. With an expedition beyond the relay going on, he requested additional support in case of trouble, with that alien tech you just never knew.

* * *

_Space near Shanxi-Theta…_

A fleet consisted of one ISA, three Helghast cruisers, and one science ship, orbited near the relay, preparing to activate it.

"Attention all ships, this is Captain Pomorov of the HSAS Event Horizon. We're activating the relay now." As on cue, the enormous rings started to spin around with blue Mass Effect Energy glowing inside. "We're going through the relay now, following the standard protocol. If we encounter any extra-terrestrial life, do not shoot! I repeat do not shoot! Pomorov out!" The link cut and everyone watched as his ship was shot through the relay.

"You really had to repeat it twice?" his female Xo asked.

"Helghast tended to be quick tempered," he replied.

"Those are just Helghast ships," she deadpanned. "The crew in mixed."

"Better be safe than sorry. I don't want to be remembered as a guy that started an intergalactic war with an alien empire."

"You read too much of that fiction sir with all due respect," she smirked. "We'll leave the ME field in about… now. 'Welcome to new syste – oh my god!" she gasped when she looked at the scanner. "S-Sir we have a problem…"

"No shit…" he mumbled numbly, watching the screen which showed… an alien armada

"How many?" he whispered, but everyone on the deck could hear him as it was deadly silent.

"O-over a thousand ships… Captain they're moving towards us… what, do we do?" She asked trying to calm her nerves.

"Send the first-contact package," he ordered and turned on the com. "Attention all ships under any circumstances, don't shoot! Anyone who breaks the order will be court marshaled and executed! Pomorov out!"

"Sir, the alien ships are hailing us." Xo said.

"Put it on the screen," he ordered and an alien face appeared on the screen.

A green four eyed alien face appeared on the screen. Pomorov noticed how this alien literally took a double take when he saw what was on the other side.

"Greetings I'm Captain Igor Pomorov from the Human System Alliance. We came in peace and hope that you did so too," he started.

"Horok et'it arak!" Alien growled showing his thin needle like teeth. "Aru'buk sokires ibbit udrak at hun do karos!"

"I don't know what the hell it is saying, but I don't like its tone." Xo mumbled.

"Quiet! We don't know their mannerism. That can be their greeting." Yet he too had a feeling that something was wrong. "I don't understand what you're saying."

The alien looked at him and sighed. He turned his head to the side and snapped a few orders.

"Sir! We have a coded message coming from the ship… it appears to be… Prothean?" One of the officers said.

"Translate it now!" Ever since the discovery of the ruins on mars, every ship was equipped with the basic Prothean code that allowed them to decipher and activate relay. It also helped them to unlock their language.

"Translating now," the officer pushed the button and a synthetic voice filled the deck.

"Shut up primitive! Strike the engines now or we'll do it for you!"

Silence again filled the deck.

"Unfucking believable," Pomorov said, glaring at the screen. "I'd rather die you alien scum!" The captain cut the transmission. "Attention all ship! The aliens are hostile; I repeat the aliens are hostile! Civilian vessel ICSAS Newton return back to our space, we'll cover all your shi –!"

The mass accelerated around to hit the rear of his ship. "Raise the shield!" he roared. "All ships! Battle ready! Protect the civilians! XO damage report!"

"The slug hadn't penetrated our armor, but created a one meter deep dent. The electronics on deck 7 and 8 were ripped apart and there are casualties from the shards from the hit. Aside from that, no more damage," she said quickly

"Fuckers are toying with us," he growled. "All ships armed retreat! Permission to engage! Xo give 'em the taste of Snow Missiles!"

"Aye Aye sir! Snow Missiles fire!"

A volley of missies soared towards the nears ships. Some were shoot by their point-defense cannon and some ended being blocked by the shield, but those which hit destroyed their targets in one hit.

"Without their shields they aren't so though –!" The ship shook violently,"What the hell was that!"

"HSAS Raven just exploded! It was hit only once! It's mass accelerated round but more advanced that anything we have! It came from the enemy's dreadnought-size ship!"

"How long till we enter the Mass effect field!" he asked hastily.

"Five minutes," she replied numbly. "ICSA's ship and HSAS Dawn needs only two…" The whole bridge fell silent, Pomorov closed his eyes.

'Sorry Kate, but I won't be coming back.' He steeled his resolve, "Attention HSAS Mississippi, cover the retreat of Dawn and Newton Dawn! Initiate Black Sun and Rug protocol and send the warning to Arcturus… the Prothean are back to reclaim their territory," he said grimly.

"Aye Captain," came the response. "It was an honor serving with you and Godspeeds!"

"Farewell…" Pomorov mumbled. "Attention all! We need to buy them… two minutes. Lets' give those alien bastards hell! All forward!" Two cruisers shot forward towards the oncoming armada. Shooting all they had. As they closed in their shields were drained and the hulls breached, but the crew pushed forward. Pomorov's ship deck was now filled with smoke and fire and the damaged slowly crippled the ship to the point of…

"ALL HAIL HUMAN SYSTEM ALLIANCE! ALL HAIL HUMA –!" Pomorov couldn't even finish.

BOOOOM!

And thus the Human expedition beyond the Shanxi – Theta was no more.

* * *

_Half an hour earlier relay 314. Aboard BHS Khar'shan's Might…_

Admiral Arnak'Tornak was one very happy Batarian. He had the green tone of skin with white stripes giving him the impression of the Batac, the predator that Batarians originated from. He was nominated to lead and expedition beyond the relay 314 and colonize the words or enslave the species there. Since no one activated it the cluster was either empty of the species there was too primitive to use it.

He was now leading a fleet consisted of over a thousand ships with four hundred fifty belonging to the Batarian army. The rest being a merc fleet from the warlords of terminus. His ship was the freshly off-line dreadnought and the principle of Batarian combat tech able to take on any Turian ship.

His superiors reminded him over and over again of the importance of this expedition. The Hegemony economy had been in recess due to the citadel sanctions and Turian intensifying the pirate hunt.

The economy flourish created by enslaving the pre-spaceflight species of Raloi started to die out and the Batarian Hegemony needed a new source of income. Using their connection inside the citadel, they removed the Turian patrol from the area for a full month; before the time was up, they would have few strong bases established there.

Arnak grinned. All clusters where the main relay led were usually filled with eezo. By the end of this expedition he will be the one of the richest men in the whole hegemony.

"Master," his Asari slave and current Xo bowed, ripping him out of his musing. "We're ready to activate the relay."

"Good Eri, active it on my command." He wanted to savor that moment.

"Yes Master," she said and moved to the console. "I await your order Mas-huh?" the servant gasped at the console.

"What is it?" he snapped impatiently.

"M-master the relay is activating!" she said quickly, wanting to avoid her masters wrath.

"I've told you to activate it on my command you daft!" He raised his hand to hit her.

"B-but Master… It's from other side!" she shuttered cringing.

That gave Arnak a pause.

"What?" he asked quietly.

"S-someone's activating it from the other side… it's a passable first contact scenario," she said stiffly.

"Admiral?" A deck officer moved to him." Five ships have entered the space, all of them have a faint reading of eezo, indicating that they only discovered the ME technology recently…" he started but was interrupted by another officer.

"Admiral, those primitive ships have sent us some data package. VI scan shows no signs of cyberware fare. So it's probably the first contact package."

"On screen with it," he ordered.

And the message showing the human race played.

And images of a planet with four continents named Shanxi showed.

"That must be their home world," Arnak mussed. Then he saw the image of actual aliens and his jaw dropped and head turned to his Asari slave/Xo who was equally shocked.

"That's impossible," he choked. "There's no way that something like this is possible…"

The gears in his head spun. Those aliens looked almost exactly like Asari aside from their skin color and the fur on their head instead of crests.

"So that's how a male Asari would look like," he commented aloud from the image of a pale human male that appeared on the screen. HahahaHEHAHAHAH!" The admiral suddenly started to laugh manically. "Can you imagine it!? We hit the jackpot! A race of primitives that looks like Asari and have males! MALES! Who would be able to do the heavily lifting the females aren't able to! That's even better than the whole planted of eezo! Xo hail them!" He ordered and composed himself. Again he was only mildly surprised when the face of alien appeared. The alien had dark brown fur on his head and around the mouth as well. Behind him was a blonde female with round face and green eyes.

Arnak barely stopped himself from licking his lips; he couldn't wait to taste what this species' females had to offer.

"Greetings, I'm Captain Igor Pomorov from Human System Alliance. We come in peace and hope that you do so too?" The alien smiled at Arnak or what he guessed was smile. He wasn't certain if this wasn't the sign of anger between that alien species. Yet their mannerism seemed to be similar to Asari since he hadn't felt hostility in that alien voice.

'Oh, soon you won't be smiling,' Arnak opened his mouth. "Shut up…"

* * *

Ok here you go! Sorry for the long descriptions but I needed to establish a few things. The proper action will start in the next chapter as you probably noticed, I hadn't killed Lucas off because frankly, I hated that moment…. and the story of how he and Maya came together might be told one day… maybe.

Also, I'll me making a dictionary below the chapters if I feel that few things needs to be explained.

Oh, and for the military ranks, I'll be using USA ranks, but I'm no expert in it since it's much more developed then the rank system in my country. So don't hesitate to correct me.

Ok, now the ship classifications. From now on I won't be using the, ISA, UCN, and Helghast names, so here you have the classifications.

* * *

**Carrier –** The largest ship in Human System Alliance fleet. The size varies from 1.6 kilometer to 2 kilometer. It can take at once 15000 soldiers, 400 tanks, 500 fighters, and 300 bombers. It lacks the main battery, but the hull is literally one large net of GARDIAN.

**Combat-Carrier **– The new class created after introducing Stahl Arms Prototype Cruise into official military. The ship is considered the most powerful in the whole human armada and is a flagship of every main human fleet. With the powerful Petrusite Cannon that is capable of taking down an ISA cruiser in one shot and an UNC dreadnought in two – the reputation is well earned. The length stands alone at 1.5 kilometer. The Combat-Carrier is capable of taking 10000 soldiers with heavy support and around 300 areal crafts.

Due to astronomical cost of manufacturing and upkeep there are only nine in existence.

**Dreadnought –**New class introduced for the UCN cruises as their length and tonnage by far outclassed other cruisers. They are spine of HSA might, their number currently at 40. With a powerful direct energy based cannon, they are able to tear though anything on their path. their size varies from 900 meters to 1.1 kilometer.

**Cruiser:** New class for former ISA and ICSA cruisers. They are the bulk of human fleets with powerful missiles they possess the power to level cities many times over. their sizes varies from 700-900 meters. These ships differ greatly from their UNC counterparts as they can change their positioning in-flight from combat operations in space to acting as on-station support in atmospheric conditions. An automated deployment system allows the Cruisers to rapidly send Intruder troop transports to a planet's surface, ensuring total planetary containment.

**Frigates: **New class for former Helghast cruisers . Light and fast ship with primary role to deliver a quick strike to the enemy's flank. Their size varies from 300-500 meters.

Dictionary:

UCN - United Colonial Nations

ISA - Interplanetary Strategic Alliance

ICSA - Independent Colonial Strategic Alliance

HSA - Human Systems Alliance.

UCNS - (and so on) - United Colonial Nations Ship

Ok for now I think that is all. If you have questions or need to clarify something do not hesitate to ask.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_Aboard BHS Khar'shan's Might._

"You fucking idiots!" Admiral Arnak Tornak roared in fury. "I've ordered to cripple them, not to blast their ships to goddamned pieces!"

"I-I-I'm terribly sorry Admiral!" One of the Captains stuttered, his skin turning pale green. "But their vessels couldn't withstand the combined power of one hundred seventy four of ours. Each of them launched a crippling shot, but… crews panicked."

"They had five primitive ships against a flotilla of over one thousands vessels, how the hell could anyone panic on our side?!" He asked incredulously, narrowing his four eyes.

"Yes, but their weapons were surprisingly effective against our vessels. We've lost a cruiser and four frigates…" The unfortunate officer continued.

"I fucking know! And those were just merc's junk vessels! Those idiots probably hadn't even raised their shields." He mumbled angrily.

"But-" He tried to argue.

"Silence! There's no excuse for incompetence! We've lost precious data on those primitives, and I hate go blindly into an uncharted system!"

"But their vessels weren't that powerful…" The Captain continued arguing, not understanding his superior's point.

"This is why you're only a Captain you idiot, of course I'm not afraid of their junk!. I meant asteroid fields! Or sun storms!...Bah get out of my sight you waste of space." He cut off the transmission.

"Eri."

"Yes Master?" His Asari slave replied.

"Send through the electronic warfare specialized ships, with escorts first. Fry their communications near their home world. I doubt that they have another colony, and even if it looks like they only recently discovered Mass Effect Drives they won't be big ones, we'll take care of them later. Next move the rest of the fleet. You have the deck for now, I'm going to inform the High Command of this development."

"As you wish, Master." She bowed in submission.

"After you're done here join me in my quarters. We'll have a celebration of our own." He caressed her cheek.

With that he left and moved to the com room, ordering a connection to High Command on Khar'shan. Aside from the Hegemon himself, they were the ones who ruled the Batarian race.

"Grand Admirals." Arnak greeted them politely. Despite being and Admiral himself, he was but a mere foot solider compared to them, but with this discovery.

"How's the expedition is going Admiral?" The High Command weren't one for small talk.

"We still haven't crossed the relay...there's been a development." He grinned inwardly. For once he could keep them in suspense.

"Speak, don't waste our time boy!" One of them snapped.

"The relay was activated from the other side, Grand Admirals. We've made first contact with a new species…" He turned on the first contact package he got from the humans.

The High Command watched it in stunned silence. After it ended they started to whisper among themselves.

"Admiral…this is an opportunity we cannot let to pass. If they are really what they say, it will catapult us back to our golden age…have you managed to capture them?"

"Unfortunately no. Some of the mercs from Terminus were overzealous in fulfilling my orders to cripple the ships, and destroyed them…I reported my objections of using mercenaries before the expedition set off."

"Noted, but we can't do anything about it now. Just keep them on short leash, if beyond that relay is the primitive's home world, don't let them devastate it. We'll need a stable population to maintain the market. Orbital bombing is strictly forbidden on their main world, but do what you want with colonies, if they have them…Admiral I cannot stress how important this mission is…If you fail the consequences will be severe." The older Batarian smirked when Arnak paled. "But if you succeed there will be a place for you among us…"

"I will succeeded Grand Admirals, Glory to Khar'shan!" He saluted.

"Glory to Khar'shan, High Command out." With that the transmission ended.

Arnak grinned. He could almost smell the power he was about to get. With that thought he walked to his quarters, calling his slave.

He doubted that she would be able to walk tomorrow.

* * *

_Shanxi-Williams Office_

The luxuriously furnished office was placed at the very top of the administrative building, giving a great view with its panoramic windows. Williams was a fan of pre-war classics, so the furniture was designed in a fashion coming straight from the end of XIX Century. The heavy dark wooden table with regales, made of the same material, gave an impression of old earth.

But currently no one had the time to discuss tastes.

Currently General Williams was rubbing his temples in annoyance. Because right now two old decrepit Generals were arguing in his office, while a third tried to mediate between them.

"I said we want him, and that's final!" General Frederic Obsman, of Black Riders, snapped. Like most people of his generation he was a typical Helghast, bald with extremely pale skin and black lips. His face was covered by a web of wrinkles and scars. He was nearing one hundred, but Williams had little doubt that he was still in top condition. He was a former Capture Trooper, and they were conditioned to be psychically superior to other troops. "Visari will be kept among his people!"

"So you can poison his mind and turn him into another Scolar?!" General Thomas Hetfield, of the 5th Ranger Regiment, spat. Like his Helghast counterpart he was old and wrinkled, but still in top condition. He was missing an eye, but his other one was as sharp as if he was much younger. He had short gray hair and slightly tanned skin. "He'll be better off with us."

"So you can arrange an accident?" Obsman growled. "I know how you Vektan scum think."

"He's more Vektan than Helghan now" Hetfield grinned. "Or have you forgotten that your precious Chancellor is a half breed too?"

"Enough!" Williams slammed his fist on his desk. "I haven't called you here to hear you bicker like old hags at the market! Whatever grudges you have against each other, won't be tolerated in my office! Because trust me, if you two piss me off, I'll have you CAT 6'ed before any of you can blink!"

"General Williams, with all due respect, I don't think that will be necessary." General John Taylor, of the Bloody Hawks, interjected. He was a relatively young man compared to the two others, as he was sixty. He had short black hair and a black moustache, he was short and looked kind of scrawny, but you couldn't find a quicker shot in whole HSA than him." I will take General Obsman's side in this argument, young Visari shouldn't be placed in the 5th. Many of them still hold the grudges against his bloodline, and it would cause untold damage to HSA if he was murdered by Vektan's."

"You dare!" Hetfield started.

"Don't make me start on how many brawls my boys had to break up between your men." He replied calmly. "We all know why you're here, and why I'm here." He said calmly. "So in my opinion, young Visari should go to the Raiders. There he will be relatively safe."

General Williams nodded at his reasoning, but the other solider had a good point too.

"Yet General Hetfield raises good point. Will you be able to keep your men from indoctrinating him with your old doctrine?" Williams intertwined his fingers. "The board will have my head if you turn him into the next Scolar…You know the attitude of current Chancellor towards her predecessor. I doubt that she would be happy with that."

Obsman looked at them with exasperation.

"You think I'm blind? The old Helghan is gone. I made my peace with that, but I will upheld our traditional values and teach them to the youth. Our culture won't be mellowed out and assimilated…but I'll do what I can to tone down the hate talks." He finally sighed. "No one wants a war, especially in these times when there are such opportunities to explore…That reminds me, how's the expedition going?"

"They should activate the relay in few hours." Taylor informed him. "So I guess that tomorrow we'll be getting the initial report."

"Ok, since we got that out of the way, do any of you have anything more to report?" Silence answered him. "Ok then, I'm off to welcome our new recruits." Williams stood, wordlessly dismissing them.

He collected his General's hat and moved to the elevator, along with the three other Generals. Despite sharing basically the same rank, Williams was given authority over them, mainly to keep Obsman and Hetfield in check.

Williams dearly hoped that the unification was going better on other planets. While not killing each other out right was a huge success, the demarcations lines were clearly drawn. East side of the river were under the Raider's jurisdiction, and the West belonged to the Hawks. In other large cites the situation was similar, the more Helghast populated areas were under Raiders, while the rest was under the Hawks.

The 5th on the other side got the smaller settlements and the wildness, since they were trained to operate in that area. Out of all armies they got the most important jobs, since they were protecting the dam up the river which provided the electricity for the capital city and smaller settlements.

Out of the four continents of Shanxi only one was populated. Due to the doctrine to not stretch the population on new words, they were colonizing usually one continent at the time. But since Shanxi was one of the few garden worlds which hadn't needed to be terraformed, the higher ups decided to push it and colonize the remaining three continents at once. The next wave of colonists, numbering to almost ninety million people, would be coming here next year in three parts of thirty million for each continent.

The cities have already been built and were waiting for their future residents.

Williams could only sigh at the ridiculous amount of paper work it will create. He eagerly awaited the day this colony would be able to form a stable world government.

Moving to his car he flew towards the space port to greet the greenhorns.

* * *

Space Port

"This is….this is….the most unimpressive place I've ever been." Hector face palmed, looking at the idle colony. He and the rest of recruits were currently leaving the ship. They moved out of the docking bay to the small plaza in front of the port, quickly forming two neat squares while awaiting the General.

"Have to agree with you there…It will be boring two years." Rick sighed, adjusting the rife on his arm. "Well at least for me. You will probably be chillin' with the Raiders, bending them to your every whim Visari."

"We don't even know if I'm gonna be assigned to the Raiders."

"Please, you think that the Helghast army won't demand to have a Visari in their ranks?" Rick shook his head. "Well at least I will be with Michelle…." He nudged the petite blonde standing next to him. She had sky blue eyes and a nice round face, with a small nose and full lips…

"Don't touch me, or I'll ram my rife so far up your ass that you'll be spitting lead for months." …and the mouth of a seasoned sailor.

"Don't tempt me. You still angry that you're the SECOND best shot in the whole regiment?" He grinned. Like him, she was a suburb sniper, but he managed to beat her by millimeters in hitting the bulls-eye at the two kilometer range.

"Tsk, that was just a lucky shot, Verdon." She hissed.

"Everyone says that, but really we're like so going to be chosen for 5th, so why don't we bury the war axe?" The only reply was a deadpanned expression from her.

"Haha looks like this battle is already lost Rick." Hector chuckled. "But really it would be nice to have a familiar face where we get assigned."

Aside from Rick and Michelle, Hector only befriended two more people. One was a heavy weapon enthusiast Nikolaj Amarow, and Adrian Bukowsky the engineer/explosive maniac. He looked around, but couldn't see them anywhere. Sighing he moved his attention to the front just in time to see General Williams stepping out of his air car. He walked to the podium, and moved to the microphone.

"ATTEN-SHUN!" Adjutant snapped through the microphone. All recruits straightened their stances, and the murmuring died out

"I'm General Henry Williams, and it's my pleasure to welcome you to the Shanxi. I guess after Helghan it must look like a relative paradise to you all." He smirked seeing the agreeing looks on the recruits' faces. "And true it's calm place, but…." His voice grew more stern. "Now your true soldier carrier starts. The training and simulations are over, and real life starts. Your decisions might weigh the safety and survival of your comrades and the civilians you are sworn to protect…." He let his words sink, almost smiling at the anxiousness radiating from them. "Remember your training and your oath and take pride in your uniform! All Hail The Human System Alliance!"

"ALL HAIL THE HUMAN SYSTEMS ALLIANCE!" The recruits roared, snapping into perfect salutes.

"Good. Now you will be assigned to your future squads. I wish you all the best of luck!" Tith that he promptly left the stage, and walked back to his car.

Then three figures walked onto the stage.

"Welcome, my name is Patrick Morrison, Brigadier Colonel of the Bloody Hawks. I'll now read the names of those assigned to my squad." And then he began reading the ridiculously long list of names. Instead of taking whole squads in, the HSA had the bright idea to improve the team-work inside the armies, and mix the squads after their training camps. So instead of calling squad one or two they had to read everyone individually, making the whole procedure hellishly long….

After he finished two names were still missing.

"Nikolaj Amarow and Adrian Bukowsky, you are to step out immediately!" Morrison raised his voice, wanting it to end already and go to his barracks.

After few seconds of silence a loud string of curses could be heard from the direction of the docking bay. Everyone turned to see two figures dashing towards the crowd.

Nikolaj Amarow was a tall, over two meters, hulking mass of muscles. He had short dark brown hair, and green eyes. His flat face screamed danger…as well as his StA-62 Minigun, which he had casually swung over his shoulder, like it wasn't a forty kilo piece of metal, but a standard rifle.

Adrian Bukowsky wasn't as tall or as well built as his friend, but he couldn't be called short and scrawny. He had messy dirty blonde hair, and blue eyes. Usually a mischievous smirk was plastered to his face, but not this time. He was clearly suffering like his companion. Even his way too numerous grenades were strapped carelessly to him, making him look like a living bomb.

They moved to the front, with the rest of recruits steering clear from them…especially fearing the loose grenades on Adrian.

"What's the meaning of this soldiers!?" Morison growled. "You're late, and…" He sniffed the air when they came closer. "…you reek of god damned booze! If you don't give me damn good explanation for you actions, I'll have you discharged right here and now!"

"It was an order from our training officer, sir!" Adrian spoke up. "He demanded that we have a drinking contest with him, and threatened to discharge us if we refused, sir!"

The Colonel looked at them in disbelief.

"Who and where is this officer now?" He asked carefully.

"Lieutenant Colonel Vince Shoss, and he's in infirmary, sir!" Niko bellowed. "I believe that it is a case of serious alcohol poisoning, sir!"

Of course the General was unaware that the true version was slightly different…and the fact that these two had a serious bone to pick with their Lieutenant Colonel …

"I see…" Morrison said slowly, feeling that these two would cause him many a headache. "Alright, since everyone is here, follow me to the transports." He turned back, and left with the group of his assignees.

Then next officer stepped up.

"Hello, my name is Hassan Salaman, Colonel General of the 5th Ranger Regiment, those I call step forward." And he began repeating the previous procedure.

"Rick Vendor, Michelle Pierre,…" He read.

"Score!" Rick cheered. "See, told ya we're going to be together." He grinned at her exasperated look.

"So here it is." Hector said, giving Rick and Michelle firm hand shakes. "Good luck guys." A grin crept on his face too. Before Michelle managed to leave his reach, he gave her a firm spank. She managed to hold a squeal, and gave him a murderous look.

Hector made an innocent expression, while whistling. The petite blonde was about to strike him, but Rick drug her away.

"I'll have your ass on a roaster Visari!" She spat as a farewell.

After the recruits for the 5th were done, it came the time for the Raiders.

"The rest are with me." The man said without bothering to introduce himself. The seriously thinned crowd followed him. Hector noticed that he was one of the few Helghast there. Which was kind of strange, considering the character of the Raiders. He guessed that the higher ups wanted to mix them up a little, to promote the unity. The group moved to the train station, where specially prepared trains were waiting for them.

"Well here's goes nothing." He mumbled, stepping into the train. The doors closed a few minutes later, and the train made it's way to the east side of the city.

* * *

_Space Port's Canteen_

Hannah couldn't stop cackling. She saw the whole situation occur from the canteen, which was placed directly above the plaza. With the windows open she heard every word the hangover duo uttered. The gleeful satisfaction that Vince Shoss was going to have his ass burnt for it, filled her with joy.

The man gave the word racist a new meaning. For him anyone who wasn't born on Earth were sub-humans, not worth his UCN's divine attention…Not to mention he had it in for her ever since the two met. Apparently, women in the army were bad too. And he was very vocal about it, every time he basically could be.

Once she, begrudgingly, had to stop a conspiracy to arrange an accident made up by Rick, Hector, Michelle, Adrian, and Nikolaj. The plan was really good on the other hand. They already got a few HELGAN SPIDERS, and were about to plant them in his room, office, toilet, and wardrobe, but she talked them out of it.

She let out a sigh. While she wouldn't openly admit it, she would miss her trainees. In the time they were on Helghast they, despite her best efforts, bonded. Deep inside she was glad that they were sent here. It would give them two or three years to relatively get some experience, and prepare them for their next assignments.

Her musings were interrupted by a sharp poke in her side. She stifled a yelp and swung around in fury at the person behind her, whom was giving her a shit eating grin.

The person standing in front of Hannah was a black skinned female. She was about 165 cm high, and had dark raven hair, tied in neat dreads. Her eyes had a dark brown shade, not to mention the line of perfectly white teeth.

"Hey Hannah, who's occupying your mind so much, and do I know the hunk?" Nina Vancover asked. She and Hannah met at some point of their military careers in the HSA army, and quickly became friends.

"You're always thinking about that." Hannah sighed.

"If you knew how pleasant it is, maybe you would be too." She giggled when the Helghast woman blushed, abashed. Helghast were much more prude than the rest of the human population.

"Pervert." She mumbled.

"Oh come on, there had to be a reason for you to tolerate Rick and Hector's antics for so long. So tell me, was it because of blonde hair and blue eyes, or because it's Vis~ariiiiii?" She teased. "I know all Helghast women have it for the young bachelor."

"I think I'm gonna stop talking with you." Hannah said in a deadpan tone.

"Aww come on! Let's have some fun here! The ship will be ready tomorrow morning, so we have all night to burn…and maybe we will find some nice Helghast guy to keep you company." She nudged her. "It's not like you've got anything better to do now."

"I guess you're right." Hannah said carefully, a night with Nina usually ended with her having a devastating hangover next morning.

"Then off we go!" Nina cheered. "I bet we never forget this night!"

How right she was….

* * *

_Shanxi's SD Platform_

The three kilometer long structure floated lazily in Shanxi's orbit. The structure, for all its immense size, was able to hold only about five hundred people needed for its maintenance, since the powerful laser cannon took most of its length, leaving limited living space.

Usually only colonies above 500 million people were fit to request having one, and very rarely got one, since the upkeep costs were astronomical.

But there was one exception.

And those were colonies near the Mass Relay. Automatically they were equipped with a Strategic Defense Platform, in case anything came from beyond the relay. When the other side was deemed safe, the platforms were to be moved to the next planet.

Bridge officer Bob Smith was bored out of his mind. He was holding a cup of steaming coffee, staring into an endless space, begging for his shift to end.

'Let something happen anything!' He mentally groaned.

As if on cue one of the specialist working the long rage scanners piqued up.

"Sir, readings are showing that the relay is activating." She informed him.

"So soon?" Bob furrowed his eye-brows. "I thought it would take few hours to scan the space beyond?"

"Sir, two of our ships have entered our space, and are hailing us….putting them though…."

"THIS IS HSAS DAWN! WE WERE ATTACKED! I REPEAT WE WERE ATTACKED!" The voice of the ship's Captain roared through the speakers. "Initiate Rug and Black Sun protocols!"

Bob dropped his mug, making it shatter into dozens of pieces.

"What?" He mumbled in disbelief. The Rug Protocol was basically destroying any evidence that humans ventured from a particular planet. So all sky-charts, maps and info about other planets were wiped clean. That way potential invaders wouldn't know the locations of the other planets.

The Black Sun Protocol was one of three "Sun" protocols. White Sun meant that first contact has been made, and the aliens are friendly. Yellow Sun meant that first contact have been made, but there was no response from aliens. And Black Sun….

"WE MADE FUCKING FIRST CONTACT! AND THEY'RE FUCKING HOSTILE!" The Captain roared. "They have a whole fucking armada behind the relay! The Protheans are back. I repeat the Protheans are back! They're using Mass Effect weapons, but more advanced than anything we have ever seen!"

"Sir, the relay is activating….the power readings show high energy jumps meaning…a lot of ships passing through!" The specialist exclaimed.

"God…" Bob groaned. "Sent word to General Williams immediately! Initiate Rug! You send distress calls to Arcturus! I'm issuing Black Sun Protocol! Gather the fleet around the station!" He ordered frantically.

"Sir, the vessels are coming thought! 50…112…175…200…" She choked.

"God save us all." The voice of the Captain came thought again. "God save-" his voice was cut off abruptly.

"What the hell happened!?" Bob roared.

"We've lost contact, sir!" One of the com operators shouted. "We're trying to-oh no…"

"What?!"

"Our communications systems are not responding…This programing…They've hacked our comm systems!"

Bob felt a cold sweat slide down his back.

"Did you manage to send the distress call to Arcturus?" He asked slowly.

"…only a distress call, not the nature…" Came the reply.

"Fuck…do we have any way to contact the Arcturus now?" He asked.

"We can attempt to regain communications, but our systems were invaded and hacked within seconds…no human could do it so fast…"

"Apparently the aliens can…" He said thinking intensely for some solution. "Can we contact the ships outside the station?"

"Negative…but we have few shuttles in the hangars, and we can send someone directly…"

"Very well…the closest ship is the Dune, tell it's Captain to move to Arcturus, and warn them…"

"Is it wise to send one of our ships back?" One of the specialist asked. "It's six days via warp jump...one way."

"They just dropped in with two hundred ships…We have thirty five, with only ten being cruisers….Even with this station still operational, they will over run us…." He thanked God that Vektans learned from the second extrasolar war, and all combat systems were in separate and isolated systems. That way no outside interference could hack them all.

"Sir…" A scanner operator said, with a shaking voice. "..more vessels are coming through…."

"How many?" Bob gulped, wiping sweat off his forehead.

"230….462….666….789…956….1056…There are now twelve hundred fifty six vessels coming our way…."

"Sent the shuttles immediately…and if the ships comms still function, tell them to gather around the station, and keep it no matter what!"

"Sir?"

"We have to buy time for the army to fortify, and civvies get to bunkers…." He said grimly. "Power the laser up."

* * *

_Aboard the ICSAS Newton_

Jack Harper was one unhappy mercenary right now. He and his team consisting of Eva Core and Ben Hislop had a simple mission from Stahl Arms, to infiltrate and gather all info of the new uncharted space from the civilian vessel accompanying the mission. The sum the company paid was way too high for such an easy mission, but Harper wasn't the one to turn down easy money.

But no, they had to meet a whole goddamned alien armada on the other side…and being chased by them had their engines blown up…

"Jack do you have a plan?" Eva asked.

"We only have our concealed weapons right now…Maybe we should ask the Captain for a few rifles?" Ben suggested.

"What will that change? We're surrounded by them…fighting is meaningless now." He tapped his chin. "But we still need to purge all systems of vital data, since our idiot of a Captain is to busy making pointless defenses."

The trio were currently standing in the engine room, surrounded by frantic engineers working on dismantling the wrap drive, so the tech wouldn't fall into enemies hands.

Jack moved to the console and started hacking into the system.

"Bingo." He smirked and began purging all data from the ships databases. "Be sure that all devises you have are clean too." He ordered. His two coworkers quickly followed the order.

"Ok I'm done here." He turned off the console and moved to his inside man, aka the Chief Engineer. "How's the dismantling going?"

"In five minutes they won't even know what this room was for." The elder, pale skinned man replied. Suddenly the ship was shaking violently.

"What the hell was that?!" Ben exclaimed.

The chief ran to his console and quickly started typing…he paused for few seconds, and then turned, looking grimly.

"The Dawn just self-destructed." He announced, pausing the movement in the room. "They probably had the same idea as us about our technology falling into enemy hands…" He looked around and saw that no one was moving. "What the hell are you all standing here for?! Unless you want me to blow this whole ship up, I suggest you move on with destroying that engine!" He roared, springing the rest into the action. "We need time."

Jack nodded.

"We'll go to the air lock and hold them off there." He said, and was about to leave when the Chief Engineer stopped him.

"Wait, I have something for you three." He moved to the side of the room and typed on the console there. A lock clicked, showing the insides.

"LS18 Shredder Shotgun, LSR44 Spoor, and StA409 Keyzer. Way better than those concealed pistols you lot have."

"Indeed." Ben grinned, picking up the Shotgun. Eva choose the Keyzer, leaving Jack with the Spoor. "We'll need a few minutes to be completely sure that they won't salvage anything."

"We'll hold them." Jack promised, and the trio moved to the hangar bay. The boarding ship was just cutting through the hull of the ship, but for some reason it was going painfully slow, like they hadn't expected such a thick armor.

The ship crew used that time to move crates, making makeshift barricades to slow down the boarding party. Machine guns were put on the higher levels, turning the hangar into a kill zone.

Now there was only the wait. Everyone could already see the rectangular shape of the cut. It was about two meters high, and three long.

The tension was thick in the room and the silence absolute, aside from the buzzing sound of melting metal.

One thought was going thought everyone's minds…

How they hell they were supposed to fight a race that were supposedly in space for fifty thousand years?

The buzzing finally ceased making everyone grip their weapons tightly. What happened next exceeded their wildest dreams…or nightmares..

The whole hull part began to glow blue, slowly move inside the room just sped up and crashed into the defenders barricades, crushing a few unfortunate crew members .

Before the dust managed to settled a crowd of aliens started to pour inside the ship. They looked like some sort of bad dream.

Large reptilian-like ones, avian ones, frog-like with big eyes, ones that looked like some sort of nightmarish bugs, green four eyed ones, and…blue alien chicks.

"I knew it! Blue alien chicks are real!" Ben exclaimed, shooting a bug-like creature with his shotgun.

"Less talking, more shooting!" Eve chastised him. Despite the initial shock, the make shift barricades seemed to work and slowed the invades down…but the problem was that the crew was mostly civilians, with basic fire arms training, and only few of them were professional soldiers.

Jack changed the mode to sniper rifle and shot a powerful blast, ending the life of two avian aliens.

But then the unthinkable happened. One of the large lizards with red armor started to glow blue. He pulled out a menacingly looking hammer, and charged in one swift jump.

The effect was like a bullet shot from a tank. The alien tore through the crates and defenders alike, sending bodies flying everywhere. Then it hit the ground with his hammer.

If Jack Harper wasn't present that day, he would laugh at the notion that single creature can make the ship shake….

Apparently that alien could, and did just that.

Using the moment of confusion the invaders poured through the hole and broke through all their defenses.

"Goddammit!" Jack swore under his breath. He dearly hoped that the engineers were done. Mass propelled bullets flew everywhere, ricocheting in the closed area, making it hard to concentrate.

"Ugh!" Ben groaned when one of the bullets hit him. He immediately fell to the ground.

"Ben!" Eva exclaimed, and ran to his side looking for injuries…seeing none. Though a little bleeding from his thigh was caused by a small metal object buried in his flesh. "What the hell?" Then realization dawned at her. "They have some sort of paralyzing shots! They want to take us alive!"

Harper remained silent while shooting the aliens. Apparently after their shields broke their armor gave little to no protection from the bullets.

But that was only a mild comfort. The aliens already pacified the defenders downstairs, and were moving up the stairs to where Jack and Eva were currently shooting. The latter dropped her gun and picked up the shotgun.

They stood back to back with aliens surrounding them.

Harper changed his rifle back to machine gun mode and pulled out a knife, while Eva reloaded her shotgun.

"Hakar urk nok dilemak ar!" The human-like alien spat towards Eva.

"Fuck you too!" She shot, but was shocked when the blue alien created a force field around herself. Then she made a grabbing motion with her fist glowing blue, and Eva suddenly found herself dragged towards the alien woman, or what looked like a woman.

The alien grabbed Eva's throat, and gave her a nasty smile.

"Ardat norok!" Then she slammed her fist into Eva's face, knocking her out.

Things on Jack's side were only looking a bit brighter, and he wasn't out of cold yet. He rammed his knife into the four eyed alien's throat, eliciting a gurgle from him, then proceeded to fill the next one with lead. His rampage was ended when he got to the large reptilian one. With one swat of its massive arm, Jack was swung to the side of the footbridge and fell through the railing. It was only because of the high crates he hadn't broken anything. He jumped on the round and saw that he was surrounded.

He heard some commotion in the midst of the aliens, and saw the same red armored behemoth stepping forward. Up close he noticed that he had red eyes and a vertical scar running though his right eye.

Jack dropped his empty gun and switched his knife in a reverse grip, glaring at the alien.

It looked at the knife in his hand and gave a snort of amusement. It dropped the hammer and slammed one fist into the other, barking something at the crowd. The aliens stepped back creating a circle around them.

"Fucker." Jack mumbled at the offending alien. He eyed his opponent looking for weak spots, and only finding it near his head, namely throat and eyes.

The alien watched him with a calculating gaze. Unlike the one who threw him from the upper level, this one's eyes were intelligent, gauging, not filled with a mindless rage. Yes the rage was present, but it was tightly shackled by a keen mind.

Jack Harper knew that the enemy in front of him was a pro.

But that hadn't deterred him from fighting. Both warriors jumped at each other.

Using his smaller size to his advantage, Jack rolled under a nasty swipe and managed to behind the alien. Using the opening he rammed his knife into the back of its knee. As he predicted the material gave up under the extremely sharp metal, and let the human pierce flesh.

The alien gave out a roar of pain, but surprised jack with quick turn, and a hit that if it connected would rip his head off his shoulders.

He managed to rip out his knife and jump back in time. Jack could only watch in disbelief as the alien stretched his wounded limb few times, then stood on it as if it wasn't injured at all.

The alien gave him wry grin and made come gesture with his three digit hand.

Jack charged forward with great speed. It was basically his only advantage over the alien. The creature respond in kind and soon both of them were locked in a deadly dance.

Harper was trained in a few martial arts, but none of them were working against the creature. His kicks to the knees were ineffective, and he cut his palm on the creature's face….He wouldn't dare to head butt him, seeing its massive head plate.

The crowd of aliens cheered every time one of the parties got close to ending the game. They were shouting something, mostly offenses he guessed. But a few of those blue women were looking at him with…interest.

He shook his head of useless thoughts. He was getting tired and the alien seemed to….enjoy this fight. Jack gritted his teeth and decided to go for the bold approach. He jumped back, making some distance.

Then he ran like a mad-man at the alien. The bold maneuver made alien pause for a second, and that was all Harper needed. He grabbed the alien's collar, and using the momentum, made a swing up. His body twisted up and the landed in space between its head and hump.

The alien started to trash widely, trying to shake him off, but Jack grabbed the alien's head plate firmly and then decided to end it. He used all his remaining strength, and rammed his knife into the beast's throat. He immediately felt warm liquid spill onto his hand, but before he even managed to twist his knife inside the wound the alien…bit him.

The razor sharp teeth tore his skin and stopped at the bone, but Jack had a nasty feeling that it wouldn't last long. Using his free hand, he dug his fingers into the alien's eyes, making it release guttural shout and letting his hand free. He quickly kicked off the alien. Jack fell from his back and hit the floor painfully, dropping his knife in the process. He stood up wobbly, and as soon as he managed to stand, he saw the fist coming his way.

The last feeling he had was that of being hit by a freight train.

* * *

Urdnot Wrex was now one happy Krogan. He just had a badass fight with an alien of a recently discovered species. Currently said alien was busy making dent in a crate. Wrex looked on with satisfaction as the white skinned alien fell to his knees, and then flat to the ground. The crowd roared with excitement at his win.

The Asari quickly ran to the fallen alien, arguing over who will "arrest" him. Those aliens were unbelievably similar to Asari, and had males. Wrex made a note to capture a few dozens of them. He knew a few Matriarchs that would pay handsomely for them.

Despite his throat and eye hurting like hell, he was pleased. He hadn't had fight this good in a few decades.

"I see the primitive almost got you Wrex." An Asari moved to his side.

"He was good Aleena." Wrex grumbled. "I bet that pyjack would have your skinny ass on a roaster." He massaged his already regenerated throat.

"Tsk, I'm not as slow as you." She huffed. "Besides these alien's are likely to become a new hit on the market." She eyed the one with light yellowish fur on his head.

"Have a itching for the forbidden, Aleena?" Wrex let out a rumbling laugh. "I have to admit, it's almost impossible to believe such Asari-like creatures exist."

"True. Anyways I've got report back that the ship is under our command now." She looked at her Omni-Tool. "Ok goodie the big Batarian Admiral wants a written report, so of course it's on me." She grumbled.

"See, that's why I never go for the leader's seat." Wrex picked up the fallen alien's knife. It was too small for his hand, but might serve as nice tooth pick. "I hope the rest of his kind have the same drive to fight." He let a savage grin creep on his face. "This war might just be fun!"

* * *

Shanxi- Rick and Michelle

Rick was now one very unhappy Vektan. Next to him Michelle was sitting with smug smile. He just got berated for his "indecent behavior" towards his female comrade, and was warned that such acts won't be tolerated by the Commanding Officer.

After they were put into the train, it traveled to the city's edge, and then moved to the large transports and drove into the tropical wilderness of Shanxi. Most of the roads still hadn't been completed, aside from the highway between New HongKong, and the second largest city New Wien. The latter was built at the base of the large mountain chain, as well the source of the river that the former was built on. The city was also the largest complex of mines on the planet, since the mountain chain was rich in minerals necessary for the colony's growth.

The 5th Rangers Regiment HQ was placed in the middle between the two cities, just next to an enormous dam that produced power for most of the settlements on the continent.

The dam was really a sight to behold, it was three times the size of the Three Gorges Dam of the pre-war earth, and the largest construction on Shanxi.

Next to it was the Ranger Compound. The building was a standard issue, quick built, metal barracks, with living quarters, surrounding the three floor construction. Around it were the hangars for the heavy equipment.

The recruits left the transports and followed the orders of the officers, moving to the main building to be quartered.

"I hope I get the bed next to yours." Rick grumbled.

"Justice is sweet, isn't it?" Michelle grinned. "Finally someone decided to give you what you deserved. Hannah was way too lenient with you."

"Ahh Hannah." Rick smiled dreamily. "I'll miss that fine piece of Helghast ass."

"You're impossible…but I'm worried for Hector." She admitted. "Adrian and Niko are at least together…come to think of it, shouldn't that be a reason to worry?" She furrowed her eyebrows.

"Damn, I should've known that you fell for that Visari charm of his." Rick said face faulting, and earning a slap to the back of his head.

"I'm serious! He's alone there." She growled.

"He's surrounded by Helghast, who will worship him just for his name." Rick looked at her deadpanned.

"They're old Helghast, the ones that believed that they're the superior race and were into murdering everyone else…and he has more Vektan blood than Helghast. Not to mention the Chancellor made many enemies within her own kin."

"Do you really think that they would kill Visari?" He inquired with disbelief.

"I'm talking about indoctrinating and turning him into the next Scolar." She clarified.

"Hector? Please. He looks to much up to his parents and what they achieved, to become like his great grandfather." Rick crossed his arms, but felt a bit of anxiety. "I bet he's having the time of his life now…."

* * *

_Black Raider's HQ_

THUMP!

Hector's body collided painfully with the concentrate ground.

He knew something was wrong the moment General Obsman made his appearance. It was highly unusual for a person like him to greet the recruits personally….even more for him being in full battle gear.

Then he called Hector up. The young man stepped up and got another order.

Get ready to fight.

He barely managed to put his helmet on before the General was on him, surprising him with his speed. That was the reason he was eating dirt in the first two minutes of the fight.

He…Hector Visari, who managed to beat in hand to hand all drill instructors, was now owned without landing even one hit.

He quickly jumped back to his feet and adjusted his stance. The General stood in a casual position, as if mocking him. His gear consisted of the original Capture Trooper Armor, but instead of white elements his was all black.

Hector ran at him again and engaged him once more. He sent a straight punch at Obsman's face, but the man swatted his fist like a fly and responded with a nasty kick to the knee. Hector managed to avoid by retreating his leg. The General grabbed him by the armlet and yanked him forward, kneeing him in the gut and making the young Visari gasp. But the older Helghast wasn't finished, with a nasty upper cut he sent him on his back again, this time with an abused chin.

"Is that all Visari can do these days?" He asked looking with distaste at the struggling youngster. "Pathetic, but expected from a half-breed…Or rather quarter-breed, since your Father was Vektan scum, and you Mother a half-breed." He spat.

Hector felt a very Helghast anger right now, aka the murderous urge to kill something.

With a roar he charged, extending his blade and slashing viciously at the General. The man side stepped and let the blade harmlessly past him, before calmly bringing out his blade and slashing at Hector's head.

And if done at the right angle one could rip the helmet off the soldier's head in one move.

Hector froze in shock and the General used the opportunity. He quickly moved on him and under cut him, making him fall. Then he kneeled on Hector's chest, pressed his blade to his throat.

The young Visari looked into the cold, merciless orange glowing orbs, and gulped.

"Yield." Obsman ordered.

"Never." He choked. "I'd rather die than surrender to the man who insulted my parents!" He spat despite the fear he felt.

The general pressed his blade, drawing blood, but Hector's gaze remained steel hard. "Hmph. It seems that there is still hope for the Visari bloodline." The General stated, retreating his blade.

"You have the same fire in your eyes as you Great Grandfather."

Hector decided to take this as a compliment.

"The show is over! Move to that building and wait to get your assigned beds!" Obsman ordered. The rest of the recruits who were with Hector moved quickly, not wanting to incur the man's wrath.

Hector picked his helmet up and saw the vertical cut along his helmet, going through his left visor. He was about to walk away when Obsman spoke.

"It's your first battle mark, remember it well Visari."

"What was he like, sir?" Hector couldn't help but ask.

"Hadn't the Chancellor told you?" The General inquired.

"I would like to hear it from someone who saw him with his own eyes, sir." He clarified.

"Scolar Visari was a man filled with passion and love for his people. Those outside might think of him as brutal tyrant, but compared to what we had before him it was heaven. People had roofs above their heads, no matter how poor. Yes they were slums, but he had only ten years to build homes for millions of homeless people. He limited starvation and rebuilt our nation, rebuilt our pride." He paused, letting himself be drown in memories. "Could he have done things in different way? Maybe…" He turned and looked into Hector's green eyes, struck again by how similar they appeared. "You're a Visari. You're a Helghast. No matter how little of the actual blood flows in your veins, and you have quite the legacy to live up to…That is all, dismissed."

Hector snapped a salute and walked towards the main building.

And since this was the Helghast part of the town, obviously the military building was the largest and most monumental one….

After all how many buildings had five Arc Towers built within?

* * *

_With Hannah and Nina_

"God how boring is this colony?!" Nina complained, looking around. "Not even one night club!"

"It's 3 PM, what did you expect?" Hannah deadpanned. They were told that the port area, near the Bloody Hawks's HQ, was the city's main entertainment district.

The base was basically one big port with a small naval fleet that the Hawks managed. Ever since the invention of space ships the role of the traditional port declined drastically. Mostly due to the transportation role or protection from the pirates on more lawless worlds.

Suddenly they heard booming laughter coming from the nearest bar.

"I think that's Adrian." Hannah said and moved in the direction of the sound, followed by a curious Nina.

To their shock they saw both the owner of said laughter, his friend Niko, and surprisingly Colonel Morrison with an already healthy red glow.

"Hey guys, mind if we sit with you?" Hannah asked walking up to them.

"Not in slightest, Colonel." Niko said. "Colonel Morrison, meet Colonel Hannah Shepard and Lieutenant Colonel Nina Vancover."

"It's a pleasure." Morrison replied with a smile. Both ladies took a seat and ordered some drinks.

"So Colonel, tell me, how you got tangled up with these two already?" Nina asked with a grin.

"Oh let's drop the formalities, call me Patrick, and they came to me while we were being transported, offering me that fine liquor." He pointed at the bottle of vodka standing on the table. "Apologizing for their behavior and to, as they call it, breaking the ice."

"Da, we felt bad for our behavior." Niko said. "If not for Colonel Shoss we wouldn't have be late."

"Yeah, he forced us to do it." Adrian said in a teary tone.

Hannah rolled her eyes.

"You had to put him into a hospital, didn't you?"

"Well he thought that he was so superior, because he was born on Earth. He decided to prove this by challenging us to a drinking contest." Adrian lied through his teeth. In reality the duo goaded the unfortunate officer into it using his huge ego. The results were less than spectacular for Colonel Shoss.

"He really thought he stood a chance against you two?" Nina asked in amused disbelief. "You drank a whole bottle of Helghast Dream, and survived."

"Isn't that the drink with Helghast Spider poison?" Morrison clarified.

"Yup." They said in unison.

"That's what you just got, Colonel." Hannah said in an apologetic tone.

"Well it's not like there's much to do, aside from sacking occasional smugglers' dens, or separating the fights between-" He paused, recalling that he shouldn't divulge delicate info like that.

"We know the Raiders and Rangers hate each others guts, and the Hawks act as peace keepers." Adrian shrugged. "It's not so hard to guess. I mean, why the hell would they send three experienced armies to such a remote planet?"

"Well then, looks like I'm open to speak freely then." Morrison took a gulp of his drink. "The situation is delicate, and General Williams is standing on thread to ensure that they won't out right kill each other. He purposely divided the jurisdiction areas so they'll have as little interaction as possible. But when they come here on shore leave…." He trailed off.

"So how many fights have you broken up?" Hannah asked.

"This week?"

"I see." She shook her head.

"But those guys are older generation…. The way we have things now always makes me happy." He looked around. "When humans from all over the galaxy can sit together and not kill each other over old some grudges."

* * *

_SD Platform_

"Sir, their fleet is advancing! Distance three hundred thousands kilometers! They closing in fast!"

"Let them pass the maximum cannon range, aim for the largest ships." Bob ordered, trying to remain calm. The ships were making a claw-like formation, with the concentration of cruises at the points.

"Sir, we detect three Dreadnought equivalents in their fleet…they're keeping behind our maximum range. Currently about four hundred ships are advancing our way." The specialist announced.

"Damn. I hoped we could take at least one of those ships." He furrowed his brows.

Suddenly the shields flared, deflecting a shot.

"What the hell was that!" Bob exclaimed in shock.

"One of the cruisers fired at us!" Came the disbelieving reply.

"From that distance!?" He spat. "Fuck me sideways, how long till they get in range?"

"One minute. Three to the desired range for the ships."

"Divert all power to shields! Have you managed to re-establish connection yet?"

"No sir, still trying to crack thought their programing."

Bob looked on with worry at the scanner. He dearly hoped that none of the more hot headed Captains would engage. The steady hits from the mass accelerated weapons were becoming more and more frequent, but the shield was holding. After all the whole platform was designed to endure, and was equipped with the best shields the HSA had to offer…Still, the continued shots from this many ships was burning through the power at an alarming pace.

"Sir, the first ships are in desired range!" The specialist announced.

"FIRE!"

The large cannon powered up and started to glow red. After few seconds the red ray of death shot towards the alien armada, along with shots from the rest of the fleet.

The effect was devastating.

The shot burnt through six ships, destroying them utterly, while the collective power of 34 Alliance ships annihilated twenty six more.

Silence ruled over the main deck. None of them could believe that one shoot from the laser managed to destroy six ships in one shot, three of which were cruiser size.

"Fire at will!" Bob ordered. "Is anyone able to explain that to me?"

"…it seems that their shields aren't able to block energy-based weapons…I recall that this might become an issue with our Eezo based shields too…I guess we have proof now." One of the men pipped out.

"Also the ships designed purely for ME travel tend to be very light, and have thin hulls." Another supported. "The damage report says that the frigates were responsible for most of the kills, thanks to their Arc Cannons."

"IT tech do everything you can to pass that message to Shanxi, hell do it by Morse Code, I don't care, they need to know that the enemy is vulnerable to energy weapons. Has the Dune left the system yet?"

"Unfortunately yes, it's gone sir."

"Goddamn it-"

BOOOM!

The whole station shook violently, making a few people fall to the ground.

"What the fuck was that!?"

"We got hit by the Dreadnought size ship sir! Shields at sixty seven percent!" A female specialist said fanatically.

Bob took a deep breath. That shot alone took five percent of the shield's power, twelve more and they were done. With three ships of that size it would just take minutes…The platform could withstand a few hits, but that was all….

"Divert all power to the Cannon and GARDIAN systems!" He said with an eerily detached voice. Everyone looked at him. "We'll take as many to hell with us as we can…proceed with that order."

Meanwhile out in space the alliance ships were fighting valiantly, even while being hopelessly out numbered. The Helghast designed Arc Frigates were moving thought the enemy ships like a scythe, but the Cruisers weren't far behind with their trade mark Snow Missiles annihilating enemies ships. But with every ship they destroyed, two took their place.

Three out of ten Cruisers and six out of twenty five Frigates were gone. They were only holding thanks to the SD Platform, which by now was a living red laser show. With each shot from the main cannon, the alien flotilla thinned a bit. The GARDIAN defense systems, albeit designed for fighters and bombers, we giving the aliens much grief too, since they could fire faster.

But ultimately the odds were stacked to much. Ship after ship was destroyed and the platform's shields fell, leaving it open to fall prey to the Dreadnought shots.

The first shot hit the generators, cutting off the power. The second hit the engine room, killing all the staff.

"It was an honor serving with you all…Good work, all of you." Bob said with melancholy, as the platform exploded and burned around him, the windows breaking due to the pressure.

The third shot hit the main deck, causing the station to explode in ball of bright fire, annihilating all nearby ships.

What was left was a three kilometer twisted and melted block of metal.

The road to Shanxi was open.

* * *

Aboard BHS Khar'shan's Might.

"Damage report." Arnak said solemnly.

"186 vessels were destroyed, Admiral." One of the officers replied. "But the alien structure was annihilated."

"Damn it." He uttered, clenching his fists. No, Tornak wasn't angry because of the number of lost ships. Those were merc vessels, without a single from regular Batarian fleet, so their losses was acceptable, even beneficial since they wouldn't have to pay them now.

No, the Admiral was angry at the loss of the alien structure. They had a laser beam able to take down several ships at once, in just one shot. His experts calculated that one shot from it would have been able to take out the Dreadnought. Nothing the Citadel had could rival it. Maybe the Destiny Ascension, but it was the one exception. Not to mention that their Frigates had some sort of undiscovered energy based weapon. He quickly ordered scavenging of the wrecks, hoping to learn something about these aliens. They proved to be more interesting than he previously thought.

He let a growl at the lost secrets of an orbital weapon, again.

His initial plan to capture the structure, was to board it and seize it, but that was shot to hell the moment the reports came of inability to even get close to it, because of the ridiculously powerful GARDIAN lasers. With a heavy heart he ordered the destruction of the platform. But he didn't want to sacrifice to many of the mercs he had. They still had a planet to conquer, and the aliens still probably had the blue prints for the structure.

"Sir, we have total orbital control. What are your orders?" An officer asked.

"Prepare for the invasion. We'll hit them fast and hard. Sent word to the Generals and merc leaders. The targets are military structures and administration buildings. Try to not damage the cities structures to much." He instructed. "Our aim is to conquer, not destroy. If they are as interesting as I think they are we need them relatively unharmed, broken but alive…Tell the merc leaders that they will be held responsible for any extensive damage. Orbital bombing is strictly forbidden."

Admiral Arnak was a professional. He knew that if they razed the planet and slaughtered most of the population, the famine and plagues that were the usual consequences of war, would kill that species off. And his head would roll for letting such an opportunity go to waste, so he needed to end it as fast as he could.

He rubbed his chin in thought.

"Do we still have their comms under our control?" He asked.

"There are a few satellites left, though that structure served as main comm buoy."

"Good. Is the translation of their language complete?"

"Yes sir, with the data from the ship, we got a full version of their language updated."

"Good, I have an announcement to make."

* * *

_General Williams Office_

It was supposed to be his last job before early retirement. He was supposed to buy a piece of land and watch his Granddaughter grow into a fine woman.

Then one message from the SD Platform Commander Bob Smith ruined everything.

Rug Protocol.

Black Sun Protocol.

The Protheans are back.

Three lines of text had ruined his closest foreseeable future. Not to mention that all outside communications were being blocked by some sort of…alien programing.

The usual lazy evening, where everyone finished their jobs, turned into a chaotic buzz of activity with reports of virtual inability to contact Arcturus for help.

"Does anything work at all here?!" Williams roared in fury.

"We can still contact the rest of the colony." One of operators said.

"Good, patch me into all screens and radios, use Alpha line." He ordered.

General Williams sat at his desk and looked into the OWL that was now recording him.

"Citizens of Shanxi, this is General Henri Williams…Just a few minutes ago we received a warning from our SD Platform..." He paused, unaware that every movement on the colony stopped. "We are being attacked….by something that we thought was long gone…citizens of Shanxi….the Protheans are back."

* * *

ok here you go with chapter 2! I hope you liked it. I'll try to keep the things relatively balanced between the batarians and humans since I personally dislike the over powered Humanity.

Anyways don't forget to leave a **review!**

* * *

**LordGhostStriker:** Not at all, remember that batarians have full orbital control. Ann can literally blast everything to pieces.

**Ank:** I'll do it in few chapters when this story gets a solid fan base

**NenkotaMoon:** It's not like they were loveable in cannon too, and I'll try my best to keep the things balanced.

**edboy4926:** I've got even something better planned.

**six samurai of dragon order:** all current races in ME operates on protheas knowledge so I took the basic coding and had it used to unlock the languages between them.

**Finnish Paragade:** thanks

**Ghost132: ** Don't worry dude I'm far from being done

**Swanboy:** Yup I hated the moment he died it sank my ship and well we all know how bad it would turn if a race of slaver made a first contact


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